Tuesday, July 20, 2010

In the middle of the layoff we learned of a small boy with a story that leveled us. Biological adopted cousins that lived near us and an amazing Ethiopian family that loved him first. We were asked if we were open to an "older" child as in older then we'd requested. We were. This little guy was almost three but we couldn't be officially matched until his paperwork was completed so we had to wait.

With the start of a new job, the submission of our dossier, and school under way we settled in for the wait. In my head I figured we'd be matched quickly and soon we'd know for sure that this child we only knew as "baby" (the nickname he was given at the HOH) was our son. Deep inside we already knew but there was that hint of unknown that didn't let my heart go there. Okay so honestly I would have been devastated if the little boy I'd seen in a tiny picture from a traveling family wasn't our son. We were in love. David had always said he was sure we were getting a three year old despite our age range. When he saw the picture of this precious boy he KNEW this was our son.

It was eight of the longest weeks of my life waiting for THE call. (yes I know many of you have waited WAY longer, I know I know but for me it was tough especially since we knew about this little guy and knew he'd been waiting for a family for SO long) The call that changed our lives. The call that let us know EsubalewYisak was to be our son. The call we had longed for. We immediately said YES to our referral. We didn't need to see paperwork, we knew this little man was our son. It didn't matter what the paperwork said. Looking at his precious face was surreal, showing our kids their brother for the first time is a memory I'll never forget. They were in love. We all were. We couldn't wait to bring our boy home.

We were given a January 14, 2008 court date just six days after our referral. We passed court the first time through, we rejoiced as EsubalewYisak was now Esubalew David Shubin. Our son. We had paid all of our fees up to this point but we were short a few thousand. We went to the Lord with our needs, we felt like we'd exhausted everything. The new job didn't have a bonus program so that was out. My precious sister in law did a little fund raiser through her online newsletter to help cover some of our in country costs, it was such an incredible blessing to see people coming together to support us. People that didn't even know us. She challenged all of her readers to give $5. Many of them did. I'll never forget the impact that had on us as we watched each $5 donation add up. Those donations would pay for our visas to get into Ethiopia and our meals.

We had no idea how we were going to cover the cost of the plane tickets. We just didn't have it. Later that week we got a statement from the old company that Davids 401K needed to be rolled over or dealt with. We hadn't even thought about that wee asset. The Lord called us in this particular journey to give it all up and trust Him. We asked if that meant even our 401k? (please anyone reading this, do not think that means in order to adopt you have to cash out your 401K, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that's what the Lord put on our hearts) David had only been with the company for 2.5 years so there wasn't a huge amount in the account. However it was ample for what we needed. We sought the Lord and asked for direction. Both of us felt the Lord asking us to trust him with everything. So we did what many people in this world would call CRAZY and we cashed out that account. Our travel would be paid for. We didn't have any leftovers, we didn't have any excess but we had enough. God is SO good.

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.Philipians 4:19

tears. love these stories... not our own. written not for our glory. freakin miracle! :)(ps my word verification below is "denisti" which CRACKS (looks like dentist) me up since we're in that "trusting phase" and we're about to leave ALL of our assets behind... home, 401k, employment, etc, for zach to go to school... for the purpose of serving the poor... thanks word verification for this quite hilarious reminder :). lovebecca

I saw on Tracy's site that you are spreading the word about our Junk Posse fundraiser, I mean, "giveaway" of course. :) Thank you so much!! I have followed your blog for some time now and have ordered 3 shirts in the past. I have enjoyed following your journey and am so thankful to you for helping us with ours!:)Melissa